School of the Osage hosting resurgent Versailles for Homecoming

School of the Osage quarterback Zach Wheeler fires a pass in the direction of wideout Jason Edwards (8) during last Friday's game against Southern Boone.
School of the Osage quarterback Zach Wheeler fires a pass in the direction of wideout Jason Edwards (8) during last Friday's game against Southern Boone.

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - The Versailles Tigers are on a roll, with two straight victories to notch a winning record midway through the 2016 campaign.

The Tigers will have their hands full this week in attempting to run that winning streak to three.

Versailles hits the road to play unbeaten and state-ranked School of the Osage in Tri-County Conference action tonight. It will be the Osage Indians' Homecoming game, with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Osage, again ranked No. 10 in this week's Missouri Media Class 3 state rankings, is 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Versailles is 3-2 and 2-1.

Both squads are coming off impressive conference victories in the rain last week, as Osage knocked off Southern Boone 32-17 in a battle of unbeatens while Versailles had its biggest offensive outburst of the season in a 35-14 clubbing of Warsaw.

"It was a resilient win for us," Osage coach Devin Johnson said of last week's game, which saw both teams commit six turnovers. "The kids showed a lot of character; a lot of heart. Our defense stepped up in a big way. But against Versailles we've got to cut down our turnovers."

"Getting our offense going a little helped," Versailles coach Broc Silvers said of the win against Warsaw. "This week getting first downs will be huge for us; keeping their offense off the field. We've been hitting our conditioning hard. We've got to be smart with our timeouts and water breaks. Being a larger school than us, Osage only plays a couple of kids both ways to our nine. They'll probably run a lot of no-huddle and try to wear us down."

After a strong defensive effort led Versailles to a win against California two weeks ago, the offense had its coming-out party last week. Versailles led 21-7 at halftime and at one point in the second half stretched that to a 21-point advantage.

Versailles got a balanced rushing attack last week, as the backfield of sophomore running back Grant Hutchison had 96 yards, senior quarterback David Connor 79 yards and senior running back Shane Randall 74 yards. And Connor completed just two passes for 43 yards, but both went for touchdowns.

Connor paces the Tigers on the season, rushing for 211 yards on 44 carries and four touchdowns while hitting on 25-of-53 passes for 173 yards.

Hutchison has nine receptions to pace the Tigers while junior Taylor Dobbins has seven catches for 84 yards and sophomore wideout Nick Wheaton four for 46.

Defensively sophomore linebacker Michael Trotter has 37 tackles, including five for losses, while senior linebacker Gage Smith has 37 tackles; Connor, a back, has 29 tackles and an interception; senior linebacker Devin Radcliff 27 tackles and two sacks, and Randall, a lineman, has 24 tackles, including eight for losses and two sacks.

The Tigers average 16.6 points per game while allowing 24.4.

"Coach Silvers does a good job of creating a culture of work and good attitude," Johnson said. "They had a big win against California and are playing a lot better and a lot more physical. They changed their offense a little the last three weeks and it has helped them. They've gone to an I (formation) quite a bit; similar to us. They have a couple of running backs who are pretty good and find the seam.

"Hutchison is a good player for them and Randall is one of the better athletes in the conference. And Gage Smith at inside linebacker makes a lot of plays. There is not too many weaknesses with them."

Osage comes in averaging 35.4 points per game but its defense, allowing an average of 16.6, has been creating a bunch of scoring opportunities as well.

The Indian defense has forced a total of 12 turnovers in the past two games. Osage has 12 interceptions and seven sacks as a team. Last week senior linebacker Jason Edwards returned two interceptions for touchdowns, from 49 and 37 yards out.

Junior linebacker Austin Magnuson paces Osage with 53 tackles (22 solo) while sophomore linebacker Dalton Depee has 51 tackles (27 solo) and three interceptions; senior back Max Maples 48 tackles; senior linebacker Dylan Riley 38 (16 solo); junior linebacker James McCann 33; junior back Ian Riley 33 (16 solo) and four interceptions, and senior linebacker Max Drier has three sacks and nine tackles for losses.

Indian junior quarterback Zach Wheeler has completed 47-of-85 passes for 732 yards, four interceptions and nine touchdowns. Edwards, a wideout, has caught 17 passes for 290 yards and four TDs while junior wideout Drake Gaines has 13 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns, and Depee has six catches for 149 yards and three touchdowns.

Junior running back Nick Riley continues to lead the ground game with 377 yards and Dylan Riley has rushed for 193 yards on 37 attempts and scored six touchdowns.

"The Edwards kid, obviously, had a nice night (last week)," Silvers said of the Indians. "They're just solid across the board. Defensively they're always playing downhill. The running backs they've got run hard and get to that next level. And it starts with the offensive line.

"Defensively their defensive backs are pretty good. A lot of their interceptions come late, when you've got to throw the ball. Hopefully we can get some turnovers. We're a plus-five on turnovers; it would be huge to keep that going."

Osage's injury situation is looking up.

Last week Magnuson again tweaked an ankle originally injured in the jamboree, but he's ready to go tonight.

Johnson also said Nick Riley, who last week returned to action on both sides of the ball after missing a game and a half with a hamstring issue, and senior lineman Christian Gonnella (shoulder) have been cleared to play.

Osage hosts Versailles

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